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Monday, May 5, 2014

island reads: "On Looking", "Road of... ", "Galapagos", Munro + more

“We have seen it all before: in our daily lives, we are sure what we will encounter. …. Vacations are the adult expectations. There, two things happen: we actually do see new places, and second, we bother to look.”

And: we have time to read. That's one of the special joys for me, starting long before leaving already: to pick the books to take to the island. With the e-reader, that is easier: you can take a library with you in a pocket. Still, you need to know which books you want to read.

Here's a list of the books I read so far:

On Looking by Alexandra Horowitz
A wonderful guidebook of the different kind: a book that invites the readeres to take a new look at the everyday. Written in a casual style, but with a lot of information included. The "we have seen it all.." quote is from this book, just as the "To find new things..." quote from Saturday's island blog post.

Road of Reflection by Rachel Stainer
A memoir of walking the Camino de Santiago - good to read this while in Spain, with the descriptions of the walk and the places, and the reflections included. I guess it's always difficult to write about such a journey, especially the personal talks and encounters, and so the focus is more on the outside, even though the real journey is the inside journey.

Galapagos by Kurt Vonnegut
The counterpart to "On Looking" and "Road of Reflection": an ironic look at the human condition and all the troubles our "big brains" create. Here's a line from the official note: "In this inimitable novel, America’s master satirist looks at our world and shows us all that is sadly, madly awry–and all that is worth saving." (Goodreads book pages)

Away from Her by Alice Munro
The first Munro story I have read: a powerful and twisted story about growing older as a couple, and about the loss of memory.

Mountainfit by Meera Lee Sethi
A beautiful memoir, part travelogue and part ecological field notebook. ("This is a book about birds, or is it?"). I read it last year, and now re-read it, and enjoyed it even more, especially as the North of this isalnd with The S'Albufera is a lot about birds, too. More about the book, in the original post: reading... Mountainfit.

**Currently Reading + More Reads:

So altogether: a mix of old and new, of first read and re-read, of fiction and memoir, of short story and novel, and of female and male authors. What is missing yet is: a book from a Spanish author. Will look for one. And here, some more links and reading notes:

For 2014, i didn't join a specific reading challenge, but i try to read books / authors from different countries and continents, and also follow the “readwomen2014” initiative. Here’s more about it: 2014 - year of reading women